First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

Faith without works is no faith. Not because we have to work to gain God's favor. But because real faith issues in loving action. Living Christian faith is not just signing onto a creed written on a piece of paper. It's not making a transaction with the Lord where I say "I believe in you so you give me eternal life."

Lord, make me slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1: 19 Everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get angry, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. This is hard work for many of us. Listening requires a great discipline of focus. It can feel to us like a waste of time, when in fact we are pouring forth a great deal of creative, loving energ...

What good is your religion? In the face of suffering, does it do any good for you to be a Christian? Are you any good to others because you’re a believer? Is God pleased with your religion?

Testing and suffering produce perseverance in our lives, especially when we see that our circumstances come to us from the hand of a God who loves us and is using all things in our lives to make us whole and complete in him. There is joy in suffering if we can see Christ with us and leading us in the midst of it. But don’t stop with yourself. There is a world of aching hearts right in your midst....

Are you full of hope, a wanderer, the prodigal, on the edge of grief? To each the news is uniquely personal. Unto you a child is born.

Are you full of hope, a wanderer, the prodigal, on the edge of grief? To each the news is uniquely personal. Unto you a child is born.

When I yield my soul to him, even knowing it will be a way of sorrow as well of joy, I can say with Simeon, every evening, “Lord, now I am at peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, a light to lighten the nations and the glory of your people.” Luke 2: 22-35

Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. She received them deeply. She contemplated them. She let them flow into her life. Luke 2: 15-20

When the shepherds heard the angels sing, they left their flocks and ran to Bethlehem. They had to see this child. They had to partake of him through worship. How can you hold back from saying, “Give me the kingdom! Make me acceptable in the Beloved! Bring the peace of being his. Give it to me! Glory to God in the highest!” Luke 2: 8-15

The meek, humble boy is the King of the Universe! Luke 2: 1-7

Jesus prays for the unity of his church. He yearns for us to know our oneness in him. But not just so we can be happy and harmonious, enjoying freedom from strife. The unity of the church is essential to the mission of the church. Jesus prays that we “may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me.” The world comes to know Jesus as it beholds the oneness of the church. We strive...

Country of Origin: The Triune God. Occupation: Ambassador for heaven. Purpose of Visit: the salvation of the world. John 17: 13-19.

We are the cherished gift that the Father gave the Son. We are the redeemed, ransomed, restored gift that the Son gives back to his Father. We are the gift God gives to God to adorn his glory: a redeemed people that bears witness to the universe that God is love. John 17: 6-11

Eternal life is knowing the one true God through his Son Jesus Christ. This is not just knowing about God. It is relating to God as our Father through the saving gift of his Son Jesus. This is forever life in which relationship deepens into eternity. There is eternal life nowhere else. John 17: 1-5

Outside circumstances put a pressure inside that awakens the anxieties that everything is going to fall apart. Indeed, a rational case can be made that things will indeed get worse, in the world and in our lives. You will have tribulation. The inner pressure has been replaced with peace. In Christ, there is peace. Because he has overcome the world. He has the victory. In Christ all is well. And al...

Have you ever wondered why you believe in God? What makes you feel, deep in your heart, that God is there, that he loves you, that he has made you his child? Why, in the midst of a world of doubt do you, of all people, know that Jesus is Lord? What is the source of the comfort you feel even during the worst times? The answer from the Scriptures to all these questions is the Holy Spirit.

There is something about those from Jesus that is both attractive and repugnant to those who are tired and broken from relying on their own resources.